


Not in Kansas Anymore

by oshjoshmgosh



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Hale Family, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, BAMF Stiles, Character Death, Gen, Magic, Magic!Stiles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-12
Updated: 2015-07-31
Packaged: 2018-04-09 00:21:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 21,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4326711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oshjoshmgosh/pseuds/oshjoshmgosh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Time travel has very strict rules. You can only utter one sentence while in the past. You cannot name names, or reference future events. You can only travel along your own timestream, but you cannot let yourself recognize you.<br/>Follow these rules, and time can be rewritten.<br/>The universe hates change, and any deviation from these rules will cause time to correct itself back to default.</p><p>Stiles is aware of these rules, and he is desperate. He does not know how the future will change, only that he cannot conceive of an alternate reality that is worse than the one he just left.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Rewritten

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is completely written, so do not fear! I will post one chapter a day from this moment on, in a pathetic attempt at creating tension and leaving people wanting more!  
> Events in some chapters may be slightly triggery, so i will post any potential trigger warnings I am aware of at the top of each chapter.

Trigger warnings: death in a hospital, mentions of death of major characters, alcohol abuse.

* * *

 

 

“You can do this, Stiles.” He blinked at Derek tearfully from within the circle they had painted on the ground. “No, you have to do this. You are the only one who can.”

“Derek, I…” his voice broke as he thought about what was to happen.

“It’s okay, Stiles.” Derek dropped to a knee as a loud commotion could be heard outside. Peter had found them. “Even if you fail, life can’t do worse than it already has.” A tear fell as Stiles began to chant.

Derek shakily stood and made his way to the edge of the circle, clutching his side as he began to bleed again. Stiles extended his hand and pressed it to Derek’s chest. A red light grew beneath his palm and entered Derek’s body, the lines tracing through his veins. The door burst open as Derek fell to the ground, his life-energy burning in Stiles’ hand. Peter’s eyes grew wide and he dashed forward, but he was too slow. Stiles threw the energy to his feet and disappeared in a flash of light.

_Everyone is dead._ Stiles thought morosely as he soared through a rainbow tunnel with cacophonous music twirling around his ears. Peter had gone insane, again, and killed everyone. Scott had been the first to go, Peter stealing alpha powers once again. That was when Derek and he began to plan their final move. With Scott dead, they had no hope of besting Peter the normal way.

Deaton had given them the spell, and then died the next day.

The hospital Scott’s mom worked at had collapsed the day after that, while Stiles’ dad was talking to her about one of his friends.

After that, Stiles and Derek had entirely abandoned the world, retreating to Canada in the hopes they could finish in secret.

Allowing himself one more minute to mourn, Stiles then steeled himself and turned his mind to more productive thoughts. He knew exactly where he was going, and he and Derek had worked out more or less what he needed to do.

The problem with time travel, was that in order to have any real changes occur, there was an extremely strict set of rules.

You could only utter one sentence while you were out of your own time.

You could only travel along your own time stream, meaning you had to be at the same place at the same time as yourself.

You could not allow your past self to recognize you as your future self.

You could not tell anyone about themselves.

You were not allowed to give any names, future, past, or present.

Following this set of rules was the only way to cause any sort of change in the future. Disobeying them would not only break the spell, anything that changed would be corrected one way or another. The universe hated change, and it allowed very little room for it to occur.

Stiles and Derek had been stumped for nearly a week, trying to decide who would be at the same place as Stiles that they could talk to in order to change the future enough to give them peace. He reviewed the plan in his head once again as the music – or really just nonsensical, melodious noise – around him grew to a crescendo, signaling his arrival.

Stiles appeared in a white hallway that he recognized well. Even having planned to come here, Stiles’ stomach still dropped out of place at the memory. He walked a small ways and fought back tears when he saw himself standing next to a hospital bed, holding the hand of a gaunt and unhealthy-looking woman. She was asleep, which Stiles remembered had only happened just before she died.

Footsteps alerted him to the person he needed to speak to. He turned and made his way around another corner, turning around immediately and walking back toward the room slowly. He paused in front of the room and looked in at his younger self sadly. Derek was walking down the hall pushing a cart with things he was to deliver to other rooms. Stiles held his gaze for a moment and then looked back at himself, shaking his head and sighing sadly. Derek paused and turned a questioning eye on him.

“It’s too bad he is an only child,” Stiles said to Derek quietly, “because he’s going to need a friend.” Right on cue, the monitors started going crazy. Stiles turned and walked away, fighting back tears, as Derek abandoned his cart to rush into the room, followed by a series of nurses. He could hear his younger self asking what was going on, why was there so much noise it would wake mommy!

Stiles allowed the tears to drop as color flooded his vision and the music took him away once again.

***

Derek abandoned the things on the cart and rushed into the room, gently grabbing the boy’s hand. “Hey, let’s stand back. Doctors are going to come in to help and we don’t want to be in their way, okay?” Stiles nodded and backed up with Derek just as the first nurses came sprinting into the room. Did the kid have a father?

“What’s your name?” Derek asked, trying to distract the kid from his mother’s death.

“Stiles. What’s happening to mommy? Why are they making so much noise? She’s gonna wake up!”

“Stiles, did you ever have a pet that ran away?” The kid needed to know what was happening, but Derek hoped to make it much softer than the way he learned of his younger brother’s death.

“Yeah. Hoppy my bunny ran away last year. I think he gotted lost and went to live somewhere else!” Perfect. Derek could work with that.

“Do you think he wanted to get lost?”

“No! He loved me!”

“That what is happening with your mommy.”

“Huh? But she’s right there!” The noise had died down significantly, the monitors having been turned off. Derek’s eyes started to water as the nurse wrote down a time on the woman’s chart.

“When people get lost in their minds, they close their eyes forever. Can you pretend that your mom’s brain is like Hoppy?”

“But her brain is in her head. You mean her spirit?” Spirit, mind, whatever. Derek nodded and waited for him to continue. “Her spirit is like Hoppy. Hoppy gotted lost, so Mommy’s spirit gotted lost? But she needs her spirit to move! If her spirit lives somewhere else then she’ll just sleep forever!” And here were the tears. “Can we find Mommy’s spirit and bring it home?” Stiles turned a now wet face to Derek, hope shining in his eyes. He sadly shook his head and opened his arms.

“No, Stiles. We can only hope her spirit finds a home that loves her too.” The light in Stiles’ eyes was crushed by his eyelids as tears finally broke free and a ragged sob burst from his throat. He ran forward and tackled Derek’s body, wrapping his arms around him and screaming into his chest.

Derek easily lifted the sobbing Stiles and moved to the wall opposite Claudia’s room so they would not be taking up the hallway. He held the boy as doctors moved in and out, covered his mother’s face and called his father. Derek allowed a few more of his own tears to fall, remembering how he had felt when his little brother Aaron had died.

After an hour had passed since Claudia’s death, Stiles fell into an exhausted sleep. Half an hour after that Deputy Stilinski sprinted down the hallway and into the room. He waited another hour while the man released his tears and then left the room. Derek stood as gently as he could and kept ahold of Stiles, careful not jostle the sleeping boy.

“My shift ended half an hour ago, Sir. I can help with whatever you need.” He offered generously. There was no way he could leave Stiles and his dad alone, not when he had spent the last hour imagining what life would have been like for him had he not had siblings and family all around him when his brother died. “My name’s Derek. Derek Hale.”

Stilinski nodded tiredly, the name barely registering in his mind. “We’re going to go home.”

“Do you feel up to driving?” Derek asked gently, knowing the answer would be no. He started to nod and opened his mouth, then decided to capitalize on free help while he could. He shook his head no. “I can drive then. Don’t worry about it, Sir.” He was going to question Derek’s motives, but Stilinski could not muster the energy or drive to care enough.

“You can call me John.”

Derek nodded and allowed John to lead the way to their car. He carefully buckled Stiles into his seat and took the keys. He settled into the driver’s seat and adjusted it so that he could drive safely. He knew that Stiles’ dad was truly out of it, because he did not even question the fact that Derek was only thirteen. John was seated in the back in the middle so that Stiles could rest against his side. He turned where John told him to and arrived at their house ten minutes after leaving the hospital.

Derek followed them into the house, taking in their exhausted state as he sent off a quick text to his mom. Night was falling, and Derek felt like he would be needed until the next day. “Do you want me to make some dinner, Sir? Or if you just want some alone time, I can watch after Stiles. It’s no trouble, I promise.”

“I’m just going to go to my room. Thank you, Derek.” John turned away and stumbled like a zombie toward his room. Derek knelt down to look at Stiles, gently grabbing his shoulder.

“Do you want anything to eat, Stiles?” Stiles nodded, but gave no indication of what. “How does grilled cheese sound?” another nod, but no words. “Do you want anything special on it? Or just cheese?”

“Jus’ cheese.” Derek nodded and dug around in the kitchen until he had all the necessary things. He was not the best cook, but anyone could do grilled cheese.

Derek followed Stiles up the stairs after dinner to help him get ready for bed, exhaustion rapidly overcoming the small boy. Derek learned that he was only seven from the pictures lining the stairwell, one picture of Stiles for every year. Derek had been only a year older when Aaron died, five years prior.

He trundled quietly back down the stairs after Stiles had fallen asleep, aiming for some privacy to call his mom. He quietly snuck outside and called her, letting her know that he was indeed staying the night to watch out for Stiles. She scolded him for driving illegally, but followed it with, “You’re a good kid, Derek.” He smiled at her praise and hung up, returning to the house.

John was seated at the table with a bottle of scotch next to him. Derek grew wary, but the man was not drunk yet. “Stiles is asleep, Sir.” He nodded and turned tormented eyes to Derek’s. Derek flinched, but he had promised himself to be here for this family, however he could. As he feared, John began to talk at Derek’s receptive and understanding face. He waited patiently as John told the story of how he and Claudia met; how in love they were; how beautiful she was. He listened as John told him all about how alone he and Stiles were, how there was no other family to miss Claudia. He nodded and remained quiet as John talked himself into a crying stupor, taking another small drink from the canter of alcohol.

“I’ll be upstairs in Stiles’ room if you need me, John. Be careful not to overdo it on the scotch.” He parted with a gentle hand on the man’s shoulder before turning back to the stairs. In Stiles room, the little boy stirred and called him over. Derek hopped easily onto the small bed and laid down next to Stiles.

“I miss mommy.” Derek nodded and pulled Stiles closer.

“I know, Stiles. I’m sorry you have to go through this. You’re a strong kid though; you’ll be okay.”

“Thanks, Der’k.” Stiles mumbled into Derek’s chest, settling down and falling asleep again. Derek thought it a tad strange how easily he was fitting in with this family, effortlessly claiming a spot close to Stiles’ heart. But then, he had always known that trauma made the heart form attachments at the first display of kindness. He gently rubbed Stiles’ back and allowed himself to drift off to sleep.

Morning came and Derek rose to make breakfast. Stiles stirred but remained asleep, and he did not hear movement, so his father was most likely still asleep too. At the bottom of the stairs his nose caught a strange scent, but did not connect it to his brain until he caught sight of Stiles’ father, still at the table.

He was face down on the table, broken glass around his feet and the empty canter of alcohol turned sideways on the table. Derek’s heart dropped into his stomach as he listened for a heartbeat and could not find one. He sprinted forward and sat Stiles’ father up in the chair, pressing his fingers into the pulse point.

“No. No, no, no, no! Okay, Derek, don’t freak out. Yes, Derek, it’s perfectly okay to freak out! Stiles’ last living relative is dead! He’s going to go into a home, and he’ll be a ward of the state! And…shit!” He was careful to keep his voice down, his distress rising in him like an active volcano. Derek had been a ward of the state for a couple of days when he ran away after his brother’s death. He had told the police that his family had all died, and they put him in a youth home. He could only stand a couple of days and then told them where his parents really lived and that they were not dead. He swore to never go back to a youth home again.

There was no way he could allow Stiles to go to one. After only a day, the little boy had forged a special place in his heart.

He grabbed his phone out of his pocket and scrolled through his contacts, stopping on the one person his mom did not like that he knew. Derek had made one friend in the youth home, and that friend was the reason Derek had a fake Driver’s License, and had gotten Derek into all manner of trouble since then.

“Hey, Kali, I need a favor.”


	2. I am Thy Brother

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: complete BS legal/illegal activity, mention of death, more complete BS legal stuff.

Derek quietly entered John’s room and found the safe in the closet. _Typical place._ He thought. He thanked his lucky stars that it was an older dial-lock, not a keypad. He could get the dial open by hearing the tumblers.

“Okay, Kali. I got it open.” Kali was a member of a small pack in Nevada, and Derek had met her in the youth home. Her Alpha, Kiersten, took her in shortly after Derek left, but Kali was a whiz with computers and illegal documents. She had been missing for six months before her Alpha finally found her and convinced her to come back, because she had everyone convinced she was legitimately alone with documentation and everything. Death certificates, adoption licenses, etc. Derek knew she could help with what he needed.

“Okay. It’s usually in a legal envelope. Do you see one?”

“There are three.”

“Well, go through them, _carefully_ , until you find the one labelled ‘last will and testament of ‘Jonathan and Claudia Stilinski’.”

Only one of them was sealed, and it was labelled ‘last will’ on the outside, so Derek had no reason to search. “Found it.”

“Okay. Open it, and then fax it to me, in color.” Derek nodded and took it out of the envelope. He made his way to the fax machine and typed in Kali’s number. He faxed her the multiple-page document, letting out a little sigh of relief when she told him she had received the pages and they were useable. “Now, I need three hours to get this done. And I’ll need both of your parents’ signatures. I can get the rest of their information. Meet me at The Home in four hours, okay?”

“Okay. Thank you, so, so much Kali! I owe you forever.”

“I just hope you know what you’re getting yourself into, Derek. Burn that document. It needs to disappear, because if it is around they can disprove this one.”

“Dad? Daddy? Wake up!”

“Oh, shit. I have to go, Kali. I’ll see you in a bit.” He hung up the phone and sprinted down the stairs, sliding to his knees next to Stiles. The boy was shaking his father in an effort to wake him up. His eyes were tear-filled, and Derek had an awful feeling that his little friend knew what was wrong.

“Daddy got lost too, didn’t he.” It wasn’t a question. Derek’s heart broke at how resigned and hopeless the kid sounded. He opened his arms and grabbed Stiles up in a suffocating hug. “I’m all alone, Derek. I got no one now. Wha’s gonna happen?”

“Don’t worry about it, Stiles. You’re going to come and live with me. You can be part of my family. I’ll take care of you, I promise.” He felt more tears staining his clothing, but the little boy nodded.

“Stiles, there are some things I need to do in order to make sure you can stay with me, okay?” He nodded into Derek’s chest again. “But first, do you want some breakfast?” Derek forced a smile onto his face, hoping to keep Stiles from spiraling into a youthful depression. He needed to call his mom at some point and let her know, but he was scared of what she would do if he let her know before it was too late to change anything.

He gently lifted Stiles’ father and set him on the couch in the other room, laying a blanket over him and then went to the kitchen and started making some scrambled eggs and bacon for Stiles and himself while he pulled out his phone. He could call one person at least, and make sure his family was at least somewhat prepared when the bomb was dropped.

“Derek, do you know what time it is?”

“It’s eight-forty-four. I need help, Peter.”

“Oh, dear. What have you gotten yourself into now, little nephew?”

“I need you to get out of earshot of the family first. I need you to…warm them up to an idea.”

“Interesting. You certainly have my attention.” Peter had dropped his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “One moment.” Derek waited patiently, stirring the eggs while Peter left the house. Peter was not Derek’s favorite person, but he was certainly the cleverest one he knew. Peter had such a way with words that he could convince anyone of anything. He had convinced Derek that his hair was blue one time, even though Derek could see that it was not so.

“Okay, Derek. What is it?”

“I’m…We’re adopting a kid, Peter. It’s a very short notice kind of thing. I need you to get mom on board without actually letting her know what is happening until it’s too late. I already have Kali getting the documents, I can forge mom and dad’s signatures. I just need you to soften them up so it doesn’t hit as hard when I tell them.”

“Oh. Well I must say, this is not what I had expected at all. Tell me, who is this child that has so captured your heart in such a short time?”

“His name is Stiles. His mom died last night of cancer, and his father died in his sleep of alcohol overdose. We found him this morning.” Peter sighed.

“Well, I guess it should not surprise me that you’re still taking in strays. Do not worry, Derek. I’ll do what I can.”

“Thank you! Thank you, Peter. Now, I need to feed him and then go get the stuff from Kali.”

“You owe me, little nephew.”

“I know. Thanks again, Peter.” Derek hung up before his uncle could say anything else. Last time Derek had owed Peter anything, he had wound up grounded for a week so that Peter could sneak out to see a girl.

Stiles had been quiet the entire time, just sitting at the counter with his hands in his lap, face downcast. Derek had no idea what was going through the boy’s head at that moment. Derek had taken it hard when Aaron died, he could not fully imagine what losing both parents one after the other in quick succession would be like.

“You alright, Stiles?” he asked gently, turning his head to take in the red and puffy eyes. The little boy nodded, but did not make a sound. He needed to get Stiles’ mind off of the death of his parents, if he could. As far as Derek could imagine, that would be a horribly traumatic thing, even for a seven-year old who could not fully comprehend death.

_Well, he’ll have to find out eventually anyways._ He nodded and steeled himself. “Hey, Stiles. I am going to share a huge secret with you, okay?” The boy nodded quietly again, but lifted his face to Derek’s. He went over and knelt next to the boy. “Do you like werewolves?” Another nod. “Are you afraid of werewolves?”

“I never met one.” Stiles was definitely confused now.

“Would you like to meet one?”

“Won’t it eat me?” Derek let out a light chuckle, hoping to keep the mood light.

“No, Stiles. It won’t eat you. At least, this one won’t. I promise.”

“Okay.” His eyes were a little less hooded now, his expression brighter at the prospect of meeting a real werewolf. Derek smiled.

“Okay. Don’t be afraid.” He smiled lightly and then allowed his eyes to flash and change to yellow. Stiles gasped, but did not move away. Derek then allowed fur to sprout around his face and his ears to become pointed. He smiled and allowed his teeth to slowly elongate and sharpen, sticking his tongue out at the little boy. Stiles eyes grew wide and he chuckled as Derek crossed his eyes and tilted his head sideways in a goofy expression. He then slowly grabbed Stiles’ tiny hand, set his own on it, and allowed his nails to sharpen. Stiles eyes grew wide again, wonder in his face.

“You’re a werewoof?!”

“You bet I am!” He said with a smile, lifting his hand to carefully ruffle Stiles’ hair. “And so is my whole family! Except for a couple people. But most of us, yes. We’re werewolves.”

“Wow…” Stiles breathed, successfully distracted. Derek carefully moved away from Stiles and then, as quickly as he possibly could, dished out breakfast and set it in front of Stiles and took a seat. Stiles giggled as everything blurred while Derek moved.

The morning passed as quickly as possible with Derek doing everything in his power to distract Stiles from reality. He took him running in the woods, played board games, everything to keep his mind off of his dead parents. There would be time for that soon enough.

“Okay, Stiles. Time for us to go and meet a friend of mine. It’ll take about an hour for us to drive there. Okay?”

“Okay.”

The car ride was filled with Derek telling stories of things he and his uncle had gotten into, trouble they got out of, and werewolves he had met. Derek was ready at any moment for something he said to remind Stiles of his parents, but he was lucky. Stiles remained smiling the whole way.

He drove in front of the home where he and Kali had met. He watched as she started her car and pulled out in front of him, leading him a ways away to a church parking lot. Derek got out of the Stilinski’s car and smiled sadly at Kali. Stiles remained in the car with the doors locked.

“Hey there, Derek. So that’s the kid you’re going to all this trouble for?”

“Yeah. I just…I don’t know. I helped them out in the hospital, and I just can’t let him get lost in the system. The time I was there was enough for me to not wish that on anyone. Plus, I like the kid. He’s strong.”

“Think you’re going to turn him?”

“Maybe, in the future. He already knows about us, he can decide if he wants it later.”

“Well, good luck with him. And good luck with your mom!” Kali reached into a bag and pulled out a manila envelope, unsealed, and handed it to him. “Read through it.” He did while she talked, describing what she had done.

“The page in back is the Stilinski’s making your parents Stiles’ godparents. You need to forge their signatures on it, be careful not to write over the notoriety stamps. He left the car as well, and anything he has paid off, to your parents. The entire contents of his bank account as well, to help cover the extra cost of Stiles.”

“Thank you so much, Kali.”

“There’s something else. His mother left him something as well, but it’s in a bank in Scandinavia. The will details how to get it, but not what it is. You’ll have to talk to your parents about that.”

“Okay. Anything else? I need to get back to Stiles’ place, replace his father at the kitchen table, put this back in the safe and arrange things so as to not draw attention.”

“Go on then, Derek. Good luck. Call me if you need anything else.” She turned away and got back into her car, leaving Derek on his own with Stiles and the envelope.

When they got back to Stiles’ house, he told the little boy to go and wait up in his room while Derek took care of everything. He started by putting the will back into the safe, sealing the envelope and ordering things exactly as he had found them. He then put Stiles father back at the kitchen table and arranged him exactly as he had found him, washed the dishes and put them away, made sure nothing was out of the norm, and then finally called the police.

“911, what is your emergency?”

“Deputy Stilinski is dead. His son and I found him at the kitchen table when we woke up.” Derek made his voice absolutely dead, hoping for shock rather than lack of caring.

“Oh, dear. Okay. What is your name, son?”

“Derek. Derek Hale. Can you come get him? I’ll keep us upstairs; the front door will be unlocked.”

“Absolutely. Make sure that you don’t touch Officer Stilinski, okay? And Keep Stiles away from him. Poor boy. Just lost his mother, now his father. We’ll have two cars over in five minutes, Derek. “

“Thank you.” He hung up and then called his mom. “Mom?”

“Derek, what did you do? Peter has been in ‘convincing mode’ all morning.”

“Well…You’re going to be really mad, but, and I’ll be honest, there’s nothing to be done about it now except press on.”

“Derek Benjamin Hale, what did you do?”

“I…Kind of adopted Deputy Stilinski’s son in your’s and dad’s name?” his voice was small and questioning, closing his eyes and waiting for the explosion.

“Oh, son. Peter’s attitude makes sense now. Is Deputy Stilinski really dead, then? And his wife?”

“Yeah. Stiles is all alone. I couldn’t just let him go into the system. That was the worst mistake I ever made, I couldn’t let it happen to him. I just…I’m sorry, Mom. I just couldn’t let him be all alone. I had Kali create a will and sign you as the beneficiaries of everything, including Stiles. I signed yours and Dad’s names.”

“Oh, Derek. How…Why…” his mother heaved a hefty sigh. “Alright. We’ll be there in ten minutes. I assume you already called the police?”

“Yes. Stiles and I just woke up a few minutes ago and found him like that at the table, drunk to death.”

“Okay. Make sure that Stiles can either tell the story, or keep quiet. As upset with you as I am, you are a good kid, Derek. We’ll discuss punishment later.” Derek sighed.

“Love you, Mom.”

“Love you too. Take care of your friend.” She hung up and Derek jumped up the stairs and closed the door to Stiles’ room behind him.

“Alright, Stiles. Everything is taken care of. The Police are on their way.” Stiles eyes were downcast again, his face pulled into a frown. “It’s okay to cry, Stiles. No one expects you to be strong.”

As though the words were all he needed, Stiles broke down again and climbed into Derek’s lap to bawl his eyes out again. The morning had all been a blur to the boy. His parents were dead, Derek was a werewolf, they had gone out to meet a girl. There was just too much happening. Derek’s voice pulled him back from his tears just long enough to hear what was being said.

“Stiles, we just woke up, okay? We haven’t had breakfast, we never went to meet Kali, and I’m not a werewolf. Can you pretend that we just woke up, that the morning never happened?” He just nodded and allowed a fresh wave of tears to break free.

Derek heard the front door open and waited for the police to come up to the room. Presumably they were cataloging everything and then moving John, because it took them nearly twenty minutes after entering the house to come up to them. Derek’s mom was with them and she rushed forward to hug Derek and Stiles together. “Oh, Stiles. I am so sorry to hear about your parents.” Another light wave of tears flowed down his cheeks, burying his face back into Derek’s chest.

“Can we go home, mom? That was…not a good way to wake up.” He was speaking for the benefit of the deputies who were waiting just outside the door.

“The police need to ask you a couple of questions first and then yes, we can go home. Can I let them in?” Derek nodded and clutched Stiles a little bit tighter as the cops came in, just to remind the boy that he was still here.

“Stiles, it’s officer Tani. Remember me?” Stiles nodded weakly into Derek’s chest. “Is it okay if I ask you a couple of questions?” Stiles shook his head no, clutching Derek’s shirt tighter and cuddling closer. Officer Tani sighed and turned to Derek. “Mr. Hale?” he nodded. “You have been with Stiles all morning?”

“Yes, I have.” He answered quietly. “I came home with Deputy Stilinski after my shift at the hospital to help him with Stiles, because he was grieving his wife who had just died. I stayed the night so that John could focus on himself for at least one night.”

“And?”

“And then we woke up and…Stiles’ dad was…” Stiles started to shake lightly again with tears. Derek put his face down on the boy’s head and rubbed his back. “I called you as soon as I got Stiles calm enough that I could talk on the phone, and then I called my mom.”

“Claudia and I had some classes together a while back.” Derek’s mom voiced. “I actually helped set them up, believe it or not. They made me and my husband Stiles’ godparents. It should be with his written will.” Officer Tani nodded and stood up after resting a gentle hand on Stiles’ small shoulder.

“Thank you, Stiles. Derek. Mrs. Hale, as the boy’s godmother, can I talk to you for a moment? We can leave the boys here.”


	3. New Beginnings

“Cora! Claire! Bryan! Let’s go!” Stiles called out in his boyish soprano. The third quarter of school was starting, and he was terrified. He got bossy when he was terrified. Stiles had been dressed for an hour already, his lunch packed and his backpack ready. He was not switching schools, but he was going back to school for the first time since…since his parents had died late November. Derek’s cousin and younger sisters stumbled out of their bedrooms, barely clothed properly. Stiles ran over and straightened Bryan’s pants, pulled Claire’s arm through her sleeve, and got all three of them into shoes.

“Stiles, it’s okay to calm down. We still have an hour before we need to get you kids to school.” Talia came around the corner and rested her hand on Stiles’ head. He took a deep breath and let it out, relaxing his shoulders.

“Sorry, Mrs. Hale. I just…I’m scared.”

“It’s alright, Stiles. At least you’re productive when you’re scared. And please, you don’t have to call me Mrs. Hale.” He nodded and then tensed up again.

“I forgot my medicine.” He turned and sprinted down the stairs and into the kitchen, rapidly climbing the counters and grabbing his pills from the cabinet. He jumped down and got himself some water, ready to take them by the time Talia made it to the kitchen to supervise. He looked at her and then took half an Adderall when she nodded, chasing it down with an entire glass of water.

“Good job, Stiles. Now relax. You’ll be fine. Your friends are still there, you’re still one of the smartest kids in class. You’ll be fine.” He allowed her to pull him into a gentle hug. Stiles breathed in deeply, trying as hard as he could to make her smell different than a normal human. He knew that she was Alpha, he could _feel_ it. In his mind he felt that she should smell different too.

He went and sat on the couch, turning on the television while he waited. Derek trundled down the stairs and dropped next to him, pulling Stiles against his side while he released a massive yawn. Stiles giggled when Derek’s teeth grew pointed before he closed his mouth. “Dog teeth.” Derek looked down at him and flicked his ear.

“How’s it going, bud? You excited?”

“Scared. They all know. What if they laugh at me, or make fun of me?”

“Then they are stupid and mean, and you don’t need to pay attention to them. Remember what I showed you?”

“No.” Derek had shown him a lot of things. Derek gave him a bemused expression before continuing.

“The breathing? How to calm down? If it works for werewolves, why not humans? If you feel like you’re getting too scared, breathe. Remember the other thing I showed you?”

“No.”

“Liar.” He quipped with a smile. “If the kids try hurting you, just kick between their legs, and hit their nose.  They’ll stop.”

“Derek, I hope you’re not teaching Stiles how to fight. He should be avoiding fights, not starting them.”

“I know, Mom. But if he can’t avoid them, he needs to know how to end them.” He turned his attention back to the boy who still looked up at him like he was a hero. “Just don’t throw the first punch. If you finish a fight you didn’t start, mom won’t punish you. If you do start it, however, you will be in the biggest trouble of your life.” Stiles nodded.

The two of them just watched morning cartoons while they waited for their various siblings to assemble and get ready for school. “Alright, hood rats. I’m leaving!” Peter called out as he walked toward the front door with his bag slung over his shoulder.

“Bye Mom! Bye Dad!” several voices cried out as all the kids scrambled to grab their bags and follow Peter out the door. Stiles and Derek brought up the rear, Stiles watching to make sure everyone got into the car safely. He even made Derek get in before him.

Stiles sat in his desk at school after hanging up his coat, praying that Jackson would ignore him today.

“Stiles! Welcome back!” His teacher crowed when she saw him. That pulled several of the other kids’ attention and they all came to welcome him back too. A few minutes later and she settled everyone down and started class.

Ms. Griffin was interrupted by the door opening and the principal leading in an unfamiliar face. He looked horribly uncomfortable with all the eyes on him. Stiles looked around and was happy to see that the desk next to him was still empty. He had always used it as his extra storage and warned people away from it with his eyes. He wanted this new kid to sit there though. He hurriedly opened the top and pulled out his extra books, slipping them into his own desk.

“Class, please welcome Mr. Scott McCall to our class.”

“Hi Scott.” The class intoned at once.

“Scott, please find an open desk.” Stiles raised his hand and pointed to the desk next to him. “It appears that Mr. Stilinski has a spot open. Feel free to sit there. If you cause problems, Stiles, I will not hesitate to move you.” Stiles smiled innocently at her glare.

“Hey, I’m Stiles.” He announced quietly to Scott. “We’ll talk at recess.” Scott nodded and then both of them turned their attention back to Ms. Griffin as she started talking about math.

“So!” Stiles started immediately as they were dismissed for morning recess. “Why did you come here?”

“My mom moved us here. My dad was…not good.” Stiles nodded morosely, reaching out and pulling Scott into a hug.

“Okay. Don’t feel bad. I…My…I just got a new family.”

“What happened? I mean…never mind.” Scott blurted. He pulled back and tried to withdraw when he saw tears starting in Stiles’ eyes.

“It’s okay. We’re gonna be friends for a long time. I can tell you later.” Stiles said the words without even thinking. It just seemed like something that would happen.

“Okay. Wanna see who can run around the swings faster?” The two stormed off and ran as fast as they could. Stiles won by a large margin, turning around to brag about it. He stopped when he noticed Scott kneeling on the ground and digging in his pocket. He ran over and dropped to his knees next to his new friend.

“Are you okay? What’s wrong, Scott?” Instead of answering, he pulled out a little purple thing from his pocket and put it in his mouth. Stiles looked at him funny when he pressed the top and inhaled, but then relief flooded him when Scott breathed normally.

“It’s okay. I have asthma. I forgot that it’s hard for me to run around.”

“Oh. So you just need to breathe from that sometimes?” Scott nodded, his eyes suddenly hooded for some reason. “I have ADHD. I need to take medicine in the morning or else I’m really hyper.” Scott’s eyes cleared strangely and a small smile broke out.

“Huh. I guess we’re both sick. Let’s be awesome instead!”

“Yeah!” Stiles and Scott started to run around again and played until the end of recess. The rest of the day passed too slowly for Stiles’ taste. He was dying by the time afternoon recess came around. As soon as the bell rang, Stiles was up and out of his seat and dragging Scott through the door.

Stiles grabbed a kickball before anyone else could get it, and he and Scott took turns throwing it as hard as they could to one another. Scott threw the ball and Stiles ran to catch it.

When he came back to throw it to Scott, he noticed Jackson and a couple of his friends talking to Scott. Scott looked kind of scared. Stiles walked forward quickly, his protective instincts kicking in. As he walked forward, Scott took out his inhaler as Jackson said words that were apparently mean enough to start his bad breathing. Then Jackson knocked it out of Scott’s hands and pushed him to the ground.

The ball flew from his hands and was followed by a sprinting Stiles. Jackson looked over as the ball hit his friend in the head and made him fall over, the cry of pain unexpected. Jackson’s eyes grew wide as Stiles grabbed his shoulder and jammed his knee into his groin, then smashed his nose with an elbow.

Stiles turned from the screaming Jackson and bodily tackled the third boy to the ground, throwing him after they rolled once. The two boys ran screaming in tears for a teacher while Jackson cried on the ground and Scott choked for air.

He ran over and grabbed Scott’s inhaler, kneeling next to him and putting it in his friend’s mouth like he had seen earlier. “Breathe!” he commanded, pushing down on the top of the inhaler. Scott sucked in air and then gasped, regaining a normal sort of breath. “Are you okay?” he asked. “What did Jackson say to you?”

“He was just being a jerk. I’m okay. Thanks.”

“Mr. Stilinski!”

***

“I’m terribly sorry, Ms. Griffin. We’ll give Stiles a firm talking to about taking matters into his own hands when we get home.” Stiles sat sullen in the corner of the office, but he held Talia’s gaze when she directed her stare at him. She had the sudden thought that, had this boy been born her son, the Alpha powers would pass to him regardless of birth order. She gently grabbed his shoulder and guided him out the door and to their car.

“I’m not sorry.” He uttered once they were beyond the principal’s hearing. She had expected him to sound petulant, but he wasn’t. He was stating a fact, and he would not apologize for his actions.

“I didn’t expect you to be, Stiles.” His gaze became confused, his eyes turning to her in surprise. “You’re not in trouble.” At that, his jaw dropped. She smiled lightly at him. “Don’t make a habit of it though!” She turned and pointed a finger at him.

“You behaved like you should today, Stiles. You defended Scott when he couldn’t do it himself. That’s what pack does. We protect each other, especially the weaker members. You didn’t look for the trouble, but you didn’t back down from it. You ended the fight quickly, and you protected your friend. I’m proud of you.”  Stiles face lit up like the dawn, tears growing in his eyes suddenly. She lifted an arm and he leaned over to give her a hug.

“We’ll get a band-aid for your elbow at home.” Stiles looked down and grimaced; he had not even noticed that he split the skin on his elbow when he hit Jackson.

***

“Stiles, we have something for you.” Summer break started that day, and Talia and Andrew had been searching for a way to show how proud they were of their newest son. They had looked into the heirloom left by Claudia and decided that Stiles could have it. If he could understand it, they trusted that he would be responsible with it.

“We’re very proud of the way that you have handled yourself this year, Stiles.” A smile lit up his cheeks in response, even though he ducked his head and twiddled his thumbs. Derek came up behind him and manhandled his head high, pulled his hands apart and rolled his shoulders back. He then bumped his hip into Stiles and gestured for him to pay attention.

“Even at such a young age, you are the best example of what an Alpha should be. You are kind to those around you, and you have gathered your friends. You protect them savagely. Don’t think that we haven’t noticed Erika and Isaac. We’re especially proud that you’re trying to be nice to Jackson. We remember how mean kids can be, and that you’re trying to be his friend speaks volumes of your character.”

Andrew moved behind Talia and grabbed the large tome that had been left to Stiles. Stiles’ eyes grew massive and his hands lifted unconsciously as though to take it. He schooled himself and waited patiently for it to be given to him. Stiles doubted he would be able to lift it. The tome was so thick it rose past his ankles, and when stood upright it came past his knee. Andrew set it down in front of Stiles and stepped back while he opened the first page, his eyes trying to adjust to the tiny lettering.

“I can read this!”

“You can?” Both parents were absolutely stunned. The tome was written in a language long dead, Andrew identified it as Old Farthik. It was the language of the Vikings.

“Yep! My…my mom taught me it after I saw the letters in How to Train Your Dragon, and she knew the real language too. I can’t say the words, but I can read it as good as English.”

“Wow. Well, we’ll be honest and say that was unexpected. But our good friend, Dr. Deaton, informed us that it was a book of magic. He agreed that he would teach you every Wednesday and Sunday during the summer.” Stiles eyes grew wide as he looked back up at them.

“So I get to learn magic? And fighting?” Derek smiled at how excited he sounded. Laura had agreed to teach Stiles and Scott self-defense on Mondays and Fridays over the summer. Stiles was certain to be a very busy child.

“Yes. You can learn both. Especially because you might not want to become a werewolf, it would be a good idea for you to be able to hold your own should the time ever come. Heaven forbid, but it’s best to be prepared.” Andrew smiled and drew Stiles into a hug. Stiles clung tight and only let go so that he could hug Talia as well.

“Come on, let’s go start reading it. I’ll help.” Derek whispered, picking up the book. Stiles beamed and sprinted for his room.


	4. Better Every Day

“Happy birthday, Lydia.” Stiles said with a smile as he held out a small box. She smiled her fake smile, but she opened it anyways and then stopped smiling. She looked up at him before pulling out a necklace with a clear oval stone set into a gold backing at the end. Stiles had polished the chain and gold backing before using a very minor spell to force it to hold shine and color. It was only fake gold, but it shone brighter than real gold.

The stone was just shaped and polished plastic made to look like crystal, but Stiles had managed to find an appropriate enchantment to put on it.

“It’s a mood necklace.” Her face dropped from looking somewhat impressed back to her fake, annoyed smile.

“Mood rings don’t work, Stiles.”

“It’s not a ring, it’s a necklace. Try it. It works, I promise. The colors are listed on a paper in the box.”

She doubtfully put on the necklace, her eyes widening as it faded from clear to yellow, and then to orange. She looked it up and her eyes grew wider as it said that orange meant surprise or shock, yellow was confusion or hesitance.

“Wow. Thank you, Stiles. This is nice!” She turned a real smile on him, the necklace changing to purple. Purple meant happy, excited or impressed.

“No trouble. Have a happy birthday!” He turned and rejoined Scott and Isaac waiting at the door to their classroom.

“So? Success?”

“Success! She officially knows my name, and has a happy memory of me!”

“Yay!” Scott cheered quietly, throwing a fist up into the air and then dropping it around Stiles’ shoulder. The three of them walked into their fifth grade classroom and settled down around Erika, all saying hi and gossiping about Stiles’ success with Lydia.

“Class, if you would please welcome a new face to our room, Ms. Kate Argent! She will be a student teacher with us until summer break while she finishes her degree in elementary graduation.”

“Hi Miss Argent.” The class intoned. Stiles’ stomach tightened at her name for a reason he could not define. The woman smiled at them all happily.

“Thank you for welcoming me to your class, children. I am very excited to be here! I’m sure we’ll have a fantastic rest of the semester!”

“What’s wrong?” Scott hissed at Stiles when he noticed his friend frowning, rather than clapping and happy. “She’s pretty!”

“And she makes my tummy do weird things. Not good weird.” He interrupted. Sure, Kate was a pretty woman – one of the prettiest Stiles had ever seen – but that was overshadowed by the feeling in his gut that she gave him. “I’m sure she’s perfectly good. I’m just being stupid.” He shook his head and pasted a smile onto his face.

The bell rang and Stiles left sedately, catching a whiff of Miss Argent’s perfume. It smelled delicious! Stiles didn’t trust it. “Have a good day, Miss Argent!” he wished happily as he left. Scott, Isaac and Erika followed him out to the parking lot to wait for their parents.

Jackson hit his shoulder as he passed, knocking Stiles down a step. He allowed his violent reaction half a second to register, and then crushed it, pasting a smile on his face. “Have a good day, Jackson! See you tomorrow.”

“I still don’t understand how you do that. Or why _he_ _does_ that.” Isaac said with a sneer.

“He’s just jealous that I have better friends than he does, that Lydia likes my gift more than his, and he thinks that my parents love me more than his.”

“He does know that you’re adopted too, right?” Isaac asked.

“Oh, he knows. He just doesn’t know how to think smartly. If he weren’t such a jerk, I’d help him learn to see things the right way, but whatever. It only hurts him.” Stiles turned and looked all three of his friends dead in the face. “So. Are we still up for…..Super Smash Bros.!? Tomorrow night at my place?”

“My mom said I can’t go. Video games, flashing lights and all that.” Erika said morosely.

“Aw. I’m sorry, Erika. We need to have a sleepover at your house, some time. That way your mom can’t argue with what we do, because she’ll be organizing it! Get on that.” His smile was infectious, spreading to her face despite her misfortune for the night.

“Stiles! Come on!” Stiles whipped around at Derek’s voice, an even bigger smile lighting up his face.

“See you guys tomorrow!” he called over his shoulder as he ran to Derek. He crashed into the bigger boy’s body, throwing his arms around him in a hug. “How have you been?”

“I’ve been alright. How was school?”

“It was okay.” Stiles unwrapped his arms and jumped into the car while Derek moved around and got into the driver’s seat. “We have a new student teacher. She makes me feel uncomfortable.” Derek turned his eyes to Stiles in concern now.

“Why? Has she done anything?”

“No. We just met her today. She just…gives me weird feelings. And not the good weird.” He threw on the end when Derek started to smile a little bit.

“Anyways, we’re gonna go running tonight, right?” Stiles asked, shaking off the day for the night. He loved it when Derek went running with him.

“You feeling up to drawing the tattoos?”

“Duh. How could I run without them?”

“Just checking. Make sure you do all your homework right when we get home, so you have time to draw before we run. We still need to be back inside by eight thirty so you can be in bed by nine.”

“I know!”

“Don’t get snippy.”

“Sorry, Derek. I just… I know what to do.”

“I know you do. You’re too smart for anyone’s good.”

***

Stiles and Derek ran through the woods at equal speeds, Stiles flying across the forest floor as easily as if he too were a werewolf. He smiled as the tattoos he had drawn in permanent marker hummed under his socks and pants, their magic enabling him to run much faster than any human ever could.

The tattoos had been a skill Derek encouraged him to learn as soon as he learned of them a year before. It had taken Stiles a couple weeks to figure out how to imbue the drawings with magic, and even longer to gain the artistic ability to draw them on himself. It had been worth it to learn though. There were tattoos for a lot of things, including flying and strength, breathing under water, and mind reading. The last one required a tattoo on both people however, and was more like mental communication than actual telepathy.

The two boys ran through the forest for a good length of time, both of them enjoying the burn in their lungs and muscles as they sprinted around the preserve. The air was cold, but Stiles had drawn a tattoo for temperature protection on his chest as well. It could be negative forty and he would not even notice! A pair of wings drawn on his ankles gave him enhanced jumping as well, for the times when Derek just jumped over a stream.

Only the sound of air whipping past his ears registered with Stiles as he ran and jumped and rolled, swinging through and around trees without a care in the world. It wasn’t until Derek screamed that he took stock of anything around him.

He slid to a stop and flashed over to Derek, kneeling next to him and catching sight of the arrow imbedded in his shoulder. _Arrow?_ He wrapped his hand gently around the shaft and whispered a string of words, the arrow becoming loose and easily pulling free of Derek’s flesh without so much as a disturbance. He began to heal immediately, rolling to a crouch and getting close to Stiles.

“Hunter.” He whispered. He then spun suddenly and caught another arrow. Stiles reacted and roared a short phrase, a wall of flames erupting in front of him and soaring in the direction of the arrow.

“Run!” he whispered harshly, grabbing Derek by the hand and pulling. Derek gripped the arrow tighter and ran with Stiles, the two of them sprinting back toward the house. No longer fooling around, they made it back in ten minutes. The door opened automatically as the two flew towards it, sprinting up the porch stairs and to the kitchen where they knew their mom to be.

“Mom! Derek got shot by a hunter!” Stiles cried, his eyes wide and frantic. He whirled on Derek and muttered the same spell as before, grabbing Derek’s shirt and pulling it through his body to drop unceremoniously on the floor. He grabbed his shoulder and gently yet firmly and examined it, noticing that it looked mostly healed already. “You’re okay.” He breathed in relief.

“Yeah, Stiles. I’m okay.” He nodded and grabbed the back of Stiles head gently. Stiles nodded and then suddenly went limp, falling for Derek to catch suddenly.

“Is he okay?” His mom asked as soon as the flurry of movement was finished.

“I think so. Probably just tired. He has done several tattoos today, as well as two phasing spells and a fire wall. I didn’t even know he could throw a fire wall!”

“He’s getting better. He’s worried for his pack. Now, are you okay? Your shoulder is healing, so it wasn’t poisoned. Anything else?” Derek handed her the arrow and waited for her to make an assessment. “Hmm. Well, it appears to be an absolutely average hunting arrow. Unfortunately nothing to identify who shot at you. No more jaunts into the woods until we figure this out, alright?” Derek nodded.

“I’ll take Stiles up and put him to bed.” Derek hitched Stiles up so he rested on his hip, wrapping his arms around the smaller boy’s back to hold him in place. Derek picked up his shirt and then trekked up the stairs to Stiles’ room and pushed open the door. Stiles hardly woke up as Derek undressed him and then slipped his pajamas on. “Come on, bud. You gotta brush your teeth.”

Stiles stood up and zombie-walked over to his bathroom, grabbing his toothbrush and toothpaste and doing a bare-bones brush. Derek rolled his eyes but refused to say anything about it. He had skipped night-brushing often enough at that age that he could not judge. Derek guided him to the bed and pulled down the covers, hugging him before pulling them back up over Stiles as he settled in.

“Please, Der. Don’t go.” Derek paused and sighed.

“You’ll be okay, Stiles. Hunters won’t hurt you in here.” Stiles eyes opened and he sat up to look at Derek with fearful eyes.

“You could have died today, Der. I am gonna have bad dreams about it. Please, don’t make me wake up afraid you died.” Derek sighed again and gave Stiles some sad, yet understanding eyes. He nodded.

“Let me go get ready for bed. Brush your teeth for real while I’m gone. I’m not sleeping next to you if you have zombie breath.” Stiles smiled and got out of bed again to go re-brush his teeth.

Derek shut the door behind him as he made his way to his own room. He threw his shirt into the corner as he entered his own room, jumping when he noticed his uncle sitting in his reading chair. “I heard that Stiles threw a wall of fire.”

“He’s getting stronger, Uncle.”

“He is indeed. I wonder just how far our little brother will be able to push himself, in the future. He can throw walls of flame at such a young age, what will he be capable of at your age? My age? I believe, in fact, that he has already exceeded the good doctor in terms of sheer strength. Never have I seen something from or around Dr. Deaton that would suggest he had any level of power.”

“Why do you sound like you’re considering including Stiles in on your schemes of world domination?”

“Derek, you wound me! I’m insulted that you would debase me so in your thoughts.” Derek merely glared at his uncle. “Okay, fine. I was…considering…that having a powerful magic-wielder in the family could be extremely beneficial _when_ hunters eventually come around.” Derek sighed and resumed pulling off his pants to pull on the sweats he normally slept in.

“I’m sure that Stiles would be more than happy to help keep us safe in the future. For now though, he needs to just learn what Doctor Deaton has to teach him.”

“Of course, you’re right. I’ll merely keep my worries in mind for when Stiles is old enough to help. After all, the longer we wait, the more powerful and more capable he will become.”

Derek brushed his own teeth and then padded back to Stiles’ room. He heard a sigh of relief as he opened the door, rolling his eyes lightly. “Thanks, Der.”

“No problem, Stiles. At least tomorrow is Saturday, so we don’t have to get ready for school. Move over.” He shoved at Stiles to make room for him on the small bed. Derek pulled the covers over them both and then turned and wrapped an arm around Stiles. He heard a giggle and then a sharp pinch under his arm. “Ouch! Wha-“

“When am I gonna get armpit hair?” Derek huffed and grabbed Stiles’ head, mashing his face into the questioned area. “Ew! Derek, stop!” He chuckled and let Stiles go, the boy retreating as far away as the twin-sized bed would allow. He settled back against him though when Derek lifted his arm.

“Probably in about three years, you’ll start getting armpit hair. Give or take a year. Then you’ll start growing facial hair!”

“Ew. Beards are gross. I hate it when Peter doesn’t shave.” Derek laughed again and pulled Stiles closer.

“Me too, bud. His face was not meant for hair.” Stiles giggled again and then relaxed into Derek’s chest.

“Love you, Der. I’m glad the arrow didn’t hurt you too much.”

“Love you too, Stiles. Now go to sleep. You have lessons with Doctor Deaton tomorrow, and then your party. You need sleep.”

“Okay. G’night.”

“Night, buddy.”


	5. Is the Weekend Over Yet?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super sorry, I know I said I'd update daily. For those who care, Granpda went to the hospital and I got put in charge of caring for two kids and three dogs for more than a week, so needless to say all thoughts of fanfic completely left my mind.  
> Things have settled now, so my mind was like, "hey, you forgot about this." Yeah.   
> So here's chapter five.

The sound of clinking glass and the low roar of private conversations buzzed around Stiles as he devoted all his attention to drawing a certain pattern. He had pages and pages of loose paper stacked in front of him, all with the same drawing. Arcs that grew wider in the middle formed a loose vortex around a spiral that spun the opposite direction. It had to be exactly five inches radius at the widest, and the haphazard arrangement of arcs made it extremely difficult to measure them all properly.

Meanwhile Derek sat on the other side of the table drinking coffee. He had his physics text book open in front of him, loose paper filled with practice problems. Physics was Derek’s worst class, and he had to put in this extra effort to get a good grade. After mourning Paige for a few weeks, Derek decided that he would do better. He wanted to make her proud of him, wherever she was. She had been smart, and Derek figured that he could do her proud by being as smart as she was. Stiles had decided to accompany Derek to his study time. It was boring drawing the same thing over and over in the seclusion of your own room.

“I got it!” he crowed suddenly, making Derek choke slightly on his coffee. He coughed for a couple seconds and then turned his eyes to the excited boy.

“You got the drawing down? How do you know?”

“Well, I won’t know until I do it on myself and try it out. But I’m confident that this is right. Now I just need to do it a few more times…” Stiles returned to drawing all over both sides of paper. Derek returned to working through his physics problem. Derek still had no idea what this tattoo was going to do to his brother. Derek had learned not to ask until Stiles had it officially mastered, or else it would cause his brother too much stress. He felt that once someone else knew what he was doing, he had to succeed at all costs. Derek hated putting that kind of stress on Stiles.

Neither one of them paid any attention to the bell signaling a new patron until she walked right up to their table.

“Stiles! What a surprise to see you here! Hard at work I see.” Kate announced happily with a wink at the little boy. “And who is this handsome young fellow? Stiles, you’re not dating older boys, are you?” Derek choked on air and started a coughing fit. _What?_ Stiles face scrunched up.

“Ew. He’s my brother, Derek. Dating is gross. If you date you have to…kiss.” Stiles shook his head as though he had just eaten an earwax-flavored jelly bean. Kate laughed and patted him on the shoulder.

“Oh, I know, Stiles. I was just teasing you.” She laid a gentle hand on Derek’s shoulder. “Although, if he weren’t your brother, you could _certainly_ do worse than Derek here.” She tossed said teenager a wink and then removed her hand. “Well, it was nice talking with you boys. Have fun. Study hard. Actually, scratch that. Study smart, not hard. If either of you need any help with things, I’m sure I could tutor you. After all, I was right where you are not too long ago.” She tossed another wink at Derek and then moved off to do her own thing.

Stiles gathered up his things and started to leave, surprising Derek. “Woah! Where you going, squirt?”

“I don’t want to be here anymore. You can stay if you want.” Derek was confused by Stiles sudden change in attitude, but started packing up his stuff as well.

“Nah, I was sick of physics anyways. Come on, let’s head home. Mom just got some ice cream we can have since dinner isn’t for another few hours!” Stiles face broke out into a smile at that. He turned and led the way out, waiting by the car for Derek. As he left, Derek turned and tossed a small smile at Kate, who smiled easily back at him.

***

“Peter…I’ve got a problem.”

“What is it, Stiles?” Peter set down his book and turned his full attention to the young boy who had deeply entrenched himself in the hearts of his family. It was rare that he ever went to anyone other than Derek for help, so that Stiles would choose him as a source was surprising.

“I…There’s a girl.” Peter smiled and released a small chuckle. He should have figured that it would be something trivial like this. “She scares me.”

“That’s what girls do, Stiles. They’re scary, and you want to talk to them but your tongue just kind of ties itself in knots and your stomach turns into a rollercoaster.”

“No. Not that scary. That scary is fine. Easy. I mean real scary. Like the kind of scared I am of lightning, or rogue omegas. It’s fear, not nerves.” Peter cocked his head a reevaluated his little nephew once again. That Stiles seemed to know the difference between the various types of fear spoke volumes about the boy’s intelligence. He once again had Peter’s full attention.

“Go on then. Tell me.” Stiles took in a deep breath and visibly centered himself before actually talking.

“She scares me. She’s nice, and seems good, but she isn’t. I know it. I just do. And she smiles at Derek too much. She met us in the coffee shop today, and she winked at him. A lot.”

“So this girl is Derek’s age?” That surprised him. “How do you know her?”

“She’s a student teacher in my class. She’s old.”

“And you say she’s interested in Derek?”

“Yeah.”

“Hmmm. Well, I don’t think you need to worry about Derek too much. What is this girl’s name?”

“Kate Argent.” Peter went still at the name. Stiles mentally gave himself a pat on the back. Now Peter was listening for real.

“Well, in that case I think we need to worry about Derek after all. The Argents are a family of werewolf hunters. They travel around hunting rogues and overeager alphas.”

“Is she gonna hurt Derek?”

“I won’t say no. But we can do nothing yet. Let us watch, and do our best. If we act before her, it will bring her entire family down on us.”

“So what do we do? She scares me, Peter.”

“Be nice to her. Be wary, but pretend that nothing is wrong. And tell me if you see her contact Derek again.”

“Okay. I can do that.”

“Good. Thank you for the warning, Stiles.” Peter smiled as his nephew did, the little boy turning back to walk to the door. Peter smiled until he was gone, and then the smile dropped as two other heartbeats – Laura, and Derek – suddenly entered his perception. He sat back in his chair with a smile; he had not even noticed Stiles casting the silence ward.

Stiles hopped down the stairs two at a time, happy that someone else was on board with him against Kate. Now he just had Deaton’s lesson before his friends came over for their party!

“Stiles.” _Crap._ He thought as he stopped on his way to the kitchen. Laura walked up to him from around the corner to the living room. She had that face on that meant he was in trouble. “What were you talking to Peter about?”

 _Seriously?_ He thought to himself. “How do you even know I was talking to Peter?” He hated it when Laura got all bossy. She wasn’t the alpha yet. She didn’t have the right to boss him around. He stood up and crossed him arms.

“Your heartbeats disappeared. I couldn’t hear either of you. Did you cast a silencing ward?” That upward lilt in her voice – the one that said ‘I know what you did but I want you to say it yourself’ – made him frown.

“Yes. I did. It’s none of your business what we talked about. Why do you care? It’s not like it involves you.” He turned to walk away, hoping she would let him instead of stoking his anger further.

“It is my business because while mom is out, I’m in charge of you guys. It’s my job to keep you safe, and I can’t do that when I can’t hear where you are.”

“Great. So now you know how Claire and I feel. We can never hear where you guys are. I was talking to Peter. There’s nothing to protect us from.”

“Don’t use silencing wards in the house anymore, Stiles. If you feel like you need that level of privacy, you probably should not be doing what you’re doing.”

“Fine, I guess you shouldn’t invite Adam over any more then. I don’t even know what you’re doing, but I wouldn’t make those noises in this house without a silencing ward.”

“That has nothing to do with this. I’m not you.”

“No, you’re not. So stop trying to control everything I do!”

“Hey, what’s going on in here?” Derek interrupted.

“Laura’s thinking she’s mom again and is trying to control everything!” Stiles turned and screamed at his brother, pointing at Laura.

“Stiles is being irresponsible with his magic and hiding things.” She said at the same time. Stiles whipped around, his fists flying down in anger.

“I was talking about _boy things_! So why don’t you lay off!”

“It doesn’t matter what you were talking about, it’s the fact that you were using magic in a dangerous way to hide it!”

“Woah, guys, calm down!”

“Well don’t let Laura feel left out because she can’t hear a conversation for once!”

“That’s not the point!” Stiles felt the rage just building and swirling around in his body. A thought entered his mind, and his body immediately seized it, his magic rearing up like it never had before.

“Well, let’s see how you like being normal!” He screamed, a wall of energy lashing out of his body and spiraling inward to a point, spearing into Laura faster than any of them could process. The force threw her back and to the ground several feet. Stiles immediately collapsed.

“Stiles! Laura!” Derek dove forward to catch his brother as the boy collapsed. Peter chose that moment to come down the stairs, concern written on his face. “Peter, help Laura!”

“Derek.” The boys turned at the quiet voice. “Derek.” Laura repeated louder, sitting up with terror written on her face. “Derek!”

“Laura, I’m right here.” Peter said gently as he crept toward the girl.

“Derek! Oh gosh. Stiles, what did you do to me?!” She jumped and screamed when Peter’s hand gently grabbed her shoulder. Tears gushed from her eyes and down her face as she backed away from the hand and into a wall.

“Laura?” Peter asked, reaching out and gently wiggling her foot without holding on to it.

“Derek. Derek Derek Derek. I can’t see. I can’t hear! Help, Derek. Please.” She lunged forward toward Peter, missing him entirely if not for his reaction. He grabbed her and pulled her close, hugging her against him as she cried hysterically.

“Stiles?” Derek asked as the boy in his arms began to stir lightly.

“Der’k?”

“Stiles, what did you do to Laura?” He asked quietly, yet his voice was tense.

“I…huh?” He blinked his eyes open and groggily turned them toward his sister, taking in her tears and fear. “I just…I just wanted her to be normal. Just wanted to make her hearing weaker. What…What’s wrong?”

“She can’t hear at all, Stiles. And she’s blind. You need to fix it.” Stiles eyes widened as he heard what he had done.

“What? I didn’t want that to happen! I didn’t want to actually hurt her! I was just so mad, and it happened before I could stop it!”

“Can you fix it, Stiles?”

“No! I don’t have any energy right now! To break a spell, you have to use as much power as you did to use it, or have a special breaking spell. Which I don’t know, and probably wouldn’t be able to use anyways.

“Derek, I’m sorry. I didn’t want her to lose everything! I just got so mad! She was being so stupid, and I just reacted! I’m sorry!”

“Pete, we need to get her to Deaton. Hopefully he’ll be able to help.” Peter nodded and grabbed Laura’s attention, spelling their plan on her hand with his finger.

“Deaton?” She asked. He spelled ‘yes.’ She nodded and slowly got to her feet, never releasing her death grip on Peter’s arm.

“Come on, Stiles. Can you walk?” Derek asked. He turned and put his feet on the floor, shakily standing up and exhaling. He nodded.

“Just don’t let go of me.” Derek then nodded and started walking, leading them to the car.

The car ride was tense and silent, Stiles sitting ashamedly in the back seat, Peter in the middle with Laura crushing his arm and hand in her vice-grip, and Derek driving. Stiles replayed the moment in the house over and over again the entire ride. He replayed the entire scene, evaluating his feelings at every point in the memory to see where his magic went wrong. He was exhausted all over again by the time they got to the vet.

“Hello, Stiles. Hello entire clan.” Deaton said with some surprise after his initial greeting of Stiles. “To what do I owe this- Oh. Laura, are you alright, dear?”

“She can’t hear you, Dr. Deaton. Or see.” Derek said quietly.

“I accidently broke her with magic. I took away her hearing and her sight.” Stiles eyes were starting to water again as he had the thought that maybe Deaton could not fix his sister. “You can fix it, right?”

“I’m sure that I can, Stiles. Just let me look at her.” Peter tapped Laura on the shoulder and then led her forward to Alan. Dr. Deaton took her gently when Peter handed her off, closing his eyes and just sitting there with her for a moment. He looked up at them and smiled lightly. “Good news. It is a fairly simple fix. I can just scrub her of all magic, and it should undo the spell.”

Stiles legs gave out on him again in relief, all the energy leaving his body in a rush. “Stiles!” Derek yelped as he lurched to keep his brother from hitting the ground too hard. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I’m just glad I didn’t really break Laura.”

“Stiles, why don’t you come and do this? I’m sure the details are in your book, but it will probably be easier to learn if you participate.” Stiles nodded to Deaton’s suggestion and forced himself to his feet, following them to the back room. He led them down a hidden staircase into a cellar room that only Stiles had been in. Alan set Laura against the wall next to the door and then moved to one of the filing cabinets.

“This, Stiles, is what is needed to perform a cleansing. Do you know what it is?” He asked as he pulled out a small black stick.

“It looks like a charcoal crayon.”

“That is exactly what it is. Why would I need this? It has no magic of its own.” Stiles waited a moment, rifling through things he had read in his book, but eventually shrugged.

“I dunno.”

“Carbon is a natural magical sink. It’s why diamonds, and jewels in general, are very useful in spell casting, and why some sorcerers use them as extra stores of energy. It’s also very easy to erase from the floor.” Deaton smiled as he said this last part. He then pulled out a book from the same cabinet and brought it to Stiles. He turned it to a page and gestured to a circle that was drawn on it. “Draw this.” He commanded, holding out the piece of charcoal.

“How big?”

“Big enough to get the small details right. Laura needs to stand in the middle.” Stiles nodded and started moving toward the center of the room. He spent ten minutes drawing the circle, taking time to erase parts that he felt were not drawn appropriately and then fixing them. Finally he stood in the center, spun around and then nodded in satisfaction.

“Now what?” he asked as he carefully stepped out of the charcoal circle.

“Now get Laura into the middle and then perform the spell.” Stiles looked at Laura’s sightless eyes and then at the circle, hesitating. After a second of thought he turned to Peter.

“Can you pick her up and put her into the circle? I don’t think she can get in without smudging it on her own.”

“You couldn’t have drawn it around her?” Peter asked, sounding nonplussed. He lifted Laura anyways, her hands clutching at him tightly.

“It’s harder to get symmetrical circles when I have to work around someone.” Deaton nodded in approval. Peter set her into the middle of the circle and squeezed her shoulders with his hands, making sure she stood still. Stiles took the book back and then moved to the edge of the circle, kneeling down to place his thumbs and index fingers just along the edge of the circle. He then rehearsed the words in his mind several times before saying them out loud.

As soon as the last word left his lips, he felt a small portion of his energy leave him and enter the circle. He looked up and smiled when Laura began to glow, followed by the light running down to the ground and out through her feet into the charcoal of the circle. By the time the light had all left Laura the black circle was glowing. It stopped glowing and Stiles stood up from his position. Laura had closed her eyes.

“Laura? Can you hear me? And see me?” Derek asked his sister. Her eyes shot open and she slowly let out a breath she had been holding.

“Yes. I’m fine.” She then turned and marched back up the stairs without saying another word.

“My, my.” Peter quipped after he heard her leave the building. “She is angry.”

“Losing two of your most important senses is most likely a terrifying experience. I would say she is rightly upset.” Deaton pointed out. He turned to Stiles. “On that note, however, I think I know what we need to do for this lesson.” Stiles frowned in acceptance of what was to come and then nodded. Derek and Peter went back up the stairs smirking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nowhere did I say it was a weekend. But it's a saturday. Irrelevant details.


	6. Running Interference

Stiles finished writing down the last of the runes and sat back to admire his handiwork. A small lizard was drawn as though it were crawling out of the page, and a circle of runes bursting outward from the lizard surrounded it. The runes were describing the lizard.

He had been grounded for two weeks for what he had done to Laura, so he had had a lot of time on his hands after school and on weekends. Laura still would not talk to him, and he was missing Scott terribly. He would go to school, hug everyone, go through the day, hug everyone goodbye, and then not see or hear from them again until the next day. He always finished his homework at school. He had nothing except magic to work on at home.

Peter would pull him aside every couple days for about ten minutes and talk with him about Kate: Had she done anything strange? Did she talk to Derek anymore? Was she giving him any special attention? Stiles drew – in regular pen – a tattoo that allowed them to speak telepathically to one another for these special conversations.

He still did not want Derek to know that he did not like Kate, because it had just been more than a month since Paige died. Derek deserved a break from girlfriend drama, and being stalked by a crazy hunter woman would definitely count as drama. He and Peter had decided to keep it a secret until Kate actually tried to do something with Derek.

Sitting alone in his room with his spellbook, Stiles had tried to come up with every detail he could possibly need to create the lizard he had imagined on the page. The spell book had said that if it were inscribed in runes, or drawn on the picture, the creature would have it. Sometimes that was less than helpful, because everything was relative. If Stiles were not specific, then the magic would somehow average every trait that could be considered under that category and give that average to the creature. If he said ‘intelligence’ then the universe would poll all of the collective intelligence of every creature and being in existence, average it together in some mystical equation, and then give the lizard the result. Considering things like plants and bacteria, the lizard would be unable to really even move beyond simple reflex reactions.

As such, Stiles had been as specific as his almost-eleven year old mind would allow. Setting the paper down on the ground, Stiles centered himself and gathered his magic. He then uttered the phrase that would invoke the magic necessary to bring his drawing to life. The rest of the spell consisted of Stiles reading out the traits the lizard would have, followed by a closing phrase.

With the last word uttered, the runes on the page glowed and began to spin around the lizard. The drawing began to blur and sharpen and wriggled on the page as the runes formed a colorful spiral that looked like it could be a portal to another world. Stiles waited with baited breath as the lizard slowly began to crawl out of the paper, its skin scaly white with black eyes and mouth. Thirty seconds after the end of the spell the lizard broke free of the page and the runes erupted across the page, tearing gashes along the paper as though someone had thrown knives through it.

Awe gave way in Stiles to horror as the lizard began to spasm on the ground, its tail lashing and its body curling in on itself. The little creature’s mouth gaped open and closed making little gasping noises. At first Stiles just stared in upset confusion until the lizard’s spasms slowed and then finally stopped as it stopped moving, then realization hit.

He forgot the lungs.

And the heart, brain, and everything else necessary for life. He knew that there were ways around including those things, if he just wanted a minion for one short task. If he wanted to sustain any sort of magical creature, however, he needed to include everything that would allow it to live under its own power.

Dismayed, Stiles reached down and lifted the lifeless lizard from its spot on the ground and walked downstairs. He had spent the majority of his free time drawing and constructing the little creature, and it had only lasted a few moments.

“Stiles! What on earth is that!?” Laura shrieked when she saw him, jumping backward and bracing herself against the counter.

“Dead is what it is.” He grumbled. Of course the first words she would say to him were disparaging. “I was trying a new thing with magic; it failed.”

“Stiles, what have I told you about-“ He turned and spun to face her, a bit of magic making his eyes flare as though lit from within by fire.

“Remember last time you lectured me, Laura? You’re not mom.” He allowed the magic to fade away and turned back toward the front door. “Just go back to ignoring me.” Stiles heard Laura inhale to start into him again, but he caught Derek shaking his head at his sister and she released it to turn back to whatever she had been doing in the kitchen.

In front of the house, Stiles lifted the lizard into the air with his magic and pushed it away from him. Uttering a short phrase, Stiles released a pulse of magic into the lizard causing it to erupt into a white flame that was hard to look at. He heard Derek come up behind him and just watched the lizard burn.

“So new magic project? Was this what you have been drawing for the last week?”

“Yeah. It’s a way to make magical constructs that are more permanent than simple summonings. It takes longer and is more work, though, but you can make more than just a simple entity that you can control from afar.”

“So you made a lizard?”

“Well, tried. I forgot its organs.”

“You…huh?” Stiles smiled and leaned back against his brother.

“You have to write down or draw every single thing about it for it to work. I didn’t write down lungs, or a heart, or a brain, so the lizard crawled off the page and immediately began to spasm and twitch because it couldn’t breathe. It died pretty quick.”

“Wow. That…that stinks. I’m sorry bud.”

“Don’t be. Now I know that if I don’t include it, I have to work around it.” The lizard stopped burning as the last flakes of ash fell to the ground. Stiles summoned a light wind to blow the remains away, the ashes scattering in the wind. Stiles sighed and dropped to the ground, settling back against Derek again as his brother dropped down with him.

“You know why Laura gets on you so much about your magic, right?”

“Yeah, yeah. It’s because she loves me, and doesn’t want me to get hurt, and blah blah-“

“No, dummy. I mean, I’m sure all those are true. But she gets on you because she’s jealous.” Derek chuckled as he heard something drop in the house and at Stiles confused and doubting glare. “Really. Stiles, you can do something that none of us can do. Sure, we can transform and you can’t, but we can’t light fires with our minds, or create lizards out of paper.” He gestured toward where the flames had hovered in the air.

“Point is, kid, that Laura is an Alpha whether her eyes glow red or not. And she’s jealous of your power. She can’t do it, and she does love you, so she won’t consider getting rid of you. So she shows her dominance in the only way she can; by bossing you around and making stupid rules that Mom didn’t endorse.”

“Well that’s stupid and petty.” Stiles complained, turning back to look out at the woods surrounding their house. “Why does she bother? She knows I’m not going to listen anyways. It’d be easier if she just got over it.”

“I agree. It would be easier for everyone if she got over it. It would also be easier on everyone if you didn’t have magic, because then Laura wouldn’t have anything to gripe at. He ignored Stiles’ injured look and went on. “Kid, you were born with this awesome power, and it’s not going away. Laura was born with how she is, and that’s not going to go away. So you guys need to find some kind of peace, or you’re going to drive us all insane.” Stiles sighed.

“I’m not going to do it just because you told me I should.”

“Good. That would be pointless, because neither of you would want to do it. Decide for yourself when you want to talk to your sister, then do it. Just don’t wait too long.” Derek stood up and turned back toward the house. “You know what happens in all those movies where people wait too long.”

***

“Hey, Stiles.” Stiles turned to look at Kate when her sugary voice called out his name. “I couldn’t help noticing that you and Derek haven’t been at the coffee shop lately. Everything alright?” Stiles blanched in his mind; why would she be worrying about them not showing up to the coffee shop? They had only done that three times so far. Kate must have noticed he thought it a strange question because she hurried to add on to her statement. “I’m there every Saturday. It’s a good place to study for my other classes. Just wanted to check up on you guys, make sure there was nothing wrong.” Stiles pasted a smile onto his face and shook his head.

“No, everything is good. I’ve been grounded. I cut off my older sister’s hair because she was being mean, so I got grounded for _weeks!_ ” Kate’s jaw dropped involuntarily at Stiles’ revelation, a smile fighting to not jump onto her face.

“Well, I hope…I hope you know how wrong that was.” She admonished, schooling her face into a stern frown and wagging her finger at him. Stiles shrugged.

“Now she knows that I’m serious about being bullied. She still hasn’t talked to me.” Her face went blank at that sentence, Stiles internally fist-pumping at the small victory. “Anyways, I’m gonna be late. Derek’s waiting to pick me up. Thanks for worrying about us, Ms. Argent!” Stiles called as he ran from the classroom, a smile on his face. Once he was outside he shook himself out and smiled for real.

“What took so long?” Scott asked, lightly punching his friend. “Derek’s been waiting for you.”

“Oh, please. It was only two minutes. Ms. Argent wanted to ask if I was okay. It was kinda creepy.”

“She likes you, Stiles! And she’s sooo pretty!” Scott mooned, throwing an arm over his shoulder and leaning heavily.

“She sooo old!” Stiles replied in the same voice, leaning on Scott at first and then spinning out from under his arm, causing him to stumble and have to catch himself. Stiles laughed. “Anyways, like you said: Derek’s waiting. See ya tomorrow, buddy!” Stiles hugged Scott quickly and then jumped off the steps leading up to the school and ran to where he could see Derek leaning against his car.

“So Ms. Argent?” Stiles nodded and jumped into the front seat.

“Yep. She was worried about us because we hadn’t gone to the coffee shop in a while. It was weird.”

“She’s just nice.” Derek shrugged, but Stiles could see the small smile on his face. Stiles frowned lightly inside. _No! He can’t start liking her!_

“Well, this is the last week I’m grounded, so we can probably go back next Saturday. Stop her worrying.” Stiles shrugged. Derek smiled.

_And now Derek can’t wait to go back to the coffee shop, because Kate goes there every Saturday!_ Stiles was pacing Peter’s room while he complained to his uncle mentally.

_Well, you’ll just have to keep an eye on them. Make sure his little crush does not develop into anything more than that._ Peter replied easily, pretending to read his book.

_She’s just so creepy, uncle P. I don’t like that she seems to be targeting Derek and me. It makes me feel like she wants to hurt us._

_She probably does, Stiles. That’s why we have these talks: You keep an eye on Kate, and I tell you what you should do with the information you bring. We’ll keep Derek, and the family, safe, Stiles. I promise. We’ve just got to be careful._ Stiles nodded at his uncle’s words, took a deep breath and settled down.

_Along those lines, Stiles, I have been thinking. There is something we can do right now to help build up our insurance against Kate Argent._

_What are you thinking, Uncle P?_ Stiles cocked his head and looked at his uncle, trying to read the slight smirk and not-fully-open eyes.

_How competent do you feel in creating a magical construct?_

***

Stiles brain hurt.  He and Derek had been sitting in the coffee shop for three hours now, Derek casting small glances toward Kate while Stiles struggled to translate into runes the complicated list of traits his next project would have.

Peter had given Stiles the suggestion to create a construct similar to the lizard that could keep an eye on Kate when they were not around, and which would be used against her in an emergency. The drawing itself was incredibly simple; it looked like a single, short squiggly line. It was a worm, but it was a special type of parasitic worm that Stiles was designing to give him access to Kate’s senses, and act as a backup plan.

If created successfully, Stiles could simply slip the worm into any drink Kate would consume; it was impervious to all forms of heat, cold, acid, drowning, or anything else Stiles could think of that could harm it. Peter had used his knowledge of biology and the body’s immune system to help Stiles protect it from that as well. The worm, once inside Kate, would secrete an anesthetic as it worked its way into her brain, finally extending arms to connect with all parts of her sensory receptors. Using a Familiar bond, Stiles could then access the worm’s feelings and senses, which would be synonymous with Kate’s.

If all else failed and Kate needed to be stopped, the worm would self-destruct, releasing a powerful paralytic spell that would immediately and completely immobilize Kate until the magic could be drained away.

Stiles had three sheets of paper filled with runes necessary to the creation of this ridiculous little creature. While the worm itself would barely be a centimeter long and less than a tenth of a millimeter thick, the spell circle required to create it would likely span and fill a meter radius. Planning for the eventuality that it took longer than expected to implant it within Kate, Stiles was including a dormant state that the worm would remain in, effectively frozen in time, until its temperature were raised above 95 degrees.

Stiles sighed and looked up to Derek. “You about ready to go, Der?”

“Yeah, we can head out if you want to. What have you been working on all this time?”

“I’m trying to create another thing. This time I am not forgetting any major parts though. I don’t know if I like this magic; it takes way too long for something that could fall apart all too easily.”

“Hey, no pain no gain!” Derek smirked and ruffled Stiles’ hair as he finished putting his books into his bag. “Anyways, I’m going to go see if Kate wants to do anything later.” Stiles eyes snapped wide open and he floundered for anything to do or say in the short two seconds Derek took to turn and start walking toward Kate.

Stiles mind groped for an idea and found one as Kate turned, receiving Derek’s gaze with a hungry one of her own. In sheer desperation, Stiles lunged out with his magic, slamming the spell into Derek, his eyes widening as it immediately took hold.

Derek opened his mouth to say high to Kate when his breakfast and coffee decided to launch a nuclear assault on one another. He caught the nausea too late, vomit exploding from his open mouth to paint Kate, the table, and the window behind them with everything he had ingested that day before any of them could even think of stopping it. Kate just sat there, dumbstruck, while Derek dry heaved a few more times, Stiles’ spell wearing off less quickly than it had taken effect.

Stiles hurriedly threw everything into his bag, grabbed Derek’s, then rushed over to grab his brother’s arm. Unaware of what had even happened, Derek allowed himself to be pulled away while embarrassment and horror rose up and fought for control of his thoughts.

“What in the world was that?” Stiles fired the question as soon as they were safely inside Derek’s car. He had decided to play perfect innocence and pretend like he had had nothing to do with the debacle. Even though he was glowing inside with pride at what he had just potentially stopped.

“I…I…” Derek stammered, his face heating up as he curled into the driver’s seat. “I have no clue. I opened my mouth to say hi…And then I didn’t…” Stiles could not help himself, he burst out laughing. Derek turned his still-shocked and mortified face to his little brother, feeling slightly betrayed. Reading the betrayal, Stiles forced himself to calm down slightly.

“Sorry. I shouldn’t laugh.” He could not force away the smile, however. “It’s fine, I’m sure guys throw up on her all the time!” Another laugh burst from his chest as he said that, Derek forcing a smile off his face in favor of attempting a menacing glower. It only caused Stiles to laugh harder.

“Besides; I’m sure she loves coffee and Apple Jacks!”

 


	7. It's a Twister, Auntie Em!

_“Stiles, where is Derek?_ ” Stiles caulked a curious eyebrow at his uncle’s question. Hadn’t Derek told everyone he had a school thing he needed to stay after for?

“ _He’s got a school thing. Weren’t you listening when he told us that?”_

 _“Oh, I was. I was wondering if he had told you something different away from the rest of the family.”_ At his even more confused expression, Peter continued. “ _Derek does not have ‘after school things,’ Stiles. He has never stayed after school, except for basketball. He abhors the institution, and I assure you that he would rather pick his nails out with bamboo shoots than stay in that retched building any longer than he was forced to._ ” Stiles eyebrows crinkled down in thought, wondering where else Derek could be if not doing a school thing. And why was Peter so distrustful anyways?

 _“What is Kate doing right now?”_ He widened his eyes as he caught onto his uncle’s train of thought.

_“You don’t think…”_

_“I assure you, that I do not know. Hence the question: What is Kate doing?”_ Stiles nodded and closed his eyes. He had created the parasitic construct just over a week ago and had managed to slip it into Kate’s coffee without her noticing. They still went to the coffee shop every Saturday, if only because it was a good place to get things done. He followed the familiar link he had formed with the creature into Kate, feeling around for the emotions he knew would be present.

Feeling Kate’s state of being was never a pleasant experience for Stiles. The woman was surprisingly full of darkness in direct opposition to the front that she put out for the world to see. There was a lot of hatred. Little true kindness and love. At the moment there was a measure of revulsion, as well as satisfaction and a smattering of darkness that Stiles was just coming to associate with Kate as a person. He relayed these things to Peter, whose brow creased in thought.

 _“I want you to perform a locating spell on Derek, Stiles. Would you do that for me?”_ Stiles hesitated at the request. That felt like an enormous invasion of Derek’s privacy. Then he remembered why he was talking to Peter in the first place. He sighed.

_“I can’t. I need his blood, or something that contains the essence of him.”_

_“Would fingernails work?”_ Stiles wrinkled his face for a moment. He hated fingernails. He did not really know why, they just disgusted him. On the wolves they were fine, but once they were separate from a person’s body they should be burned and removed from sight. He nodded reluctantly. Peter stood up and moved to his closet, shuffling things around that Stiles could not see due to his uncle’s body being in the way.

 _“Please tell me you don’t…You do.”_ Stiles grimaced as Peter returned with a prescription bottle with a couple white crescents in it labelled ‘DEREK.’ “ _Why? Why on earth do you have those?!”_

_“The minute you told me about Kate, I began collecting safeguards. I’ve known for a while that you are capable of magic such as a location spell, and so I have been collecting things for just such an occasion. I have fingernails for everyone in the family. Except for you. I’ve only ever managed to find a single piece of hair that I can pair to you.”_

_“That’s because I flush everything down the toilet.”_ He shuddered lightly as Peter put the bottle of Derek’s fingernails into his hand. He then moved and retrieved a map that Stiles figured could only be of Beacon Hills County, because anything else would be pointless. _“I hate fingernails. I get rid of them. Plus it makes it so people can’t do things like track or curse me!_ ” Peter smiled, patting Stiles lightly on the shoulder as he spread the map out over the bed.

 _“A wise precaution, however it is good that not all of us are as careful as you are._ ” Peter stood back once the map was perfectly flat, waiting for Stiles to do his thing. He cringed as he popped open the child-proof cap and emptied four of the fingernails out into his palm. He put the rest down on the bedside table and stood before the map.

Closing his eyes, Stiles cast his mind back into his book. He lifted his cupped hands above the map and uttered a short sentence that would enchant the nails and the map to react together. On the last word he dipped and separated his hands, causing the nails to scatter over the paper. Instead of flying apart, however, they curved unnaturally back towards each other, grouping up on one single spot on the map. Stiles felt the magic abate and stepped back, releasing a breath as he did so. He then went and sat down on a chair to rest from the sudden lack of energy.

“ _Derek appears to be at the coffee shop. Does that indicate a negative or positive that he is with Kate?”_ Stiles huffed out a sigh and turned miserable eyes on Peter.

 _“Definite positive. What are we gonna do, Peter?”_ Stiles eyes were wide and boyish, causing Peter to give him a light smile.

“ _Don’t fret, young Stiles. We will keep Derek safe.”_

***

“And where have you been, little nephew?” Peter asked as Derek walked casually in the front door. He hesitated with wide eyes for just a second before smoothing out his features and responding casually.

“I was doing a group project at the school. My teacher offered to work with us for a little bit tonight and tomorrow night. I told you this already.”

“Indeed, you did. However, a little spell told me otherwise.” Derek’s eyes darkened in anger and betrayal.

“Stiles!” he growled, knowing his little brother would be listening if he had done a locator spell on him.

“Oh come now, Derek. Don’t blame him. If anyone, blame your manipulative older uncle for worrying that you were spending time with _an Argent_.” Peter’s voice turned to steel then, causing Derek to flinch.

“Quiet down! Do you think Mom would like hearing-“

“Oh, no need to worry about that. Stiles has subtly enchanted the rest of our family to gleefully ignore and forget about anything they hear for a short time. Our privacy is assured.

“But I’m sure that your mother would be _overjoyed_ to hear that I got upset at your for spending time with the daughter – who is quite insane, from what Stiles tells me of her mind – of a family of hunters who have tried to kill us in the past!”

“We have a truce with them, she wouldn’t hurt me. And what do you mean, insane?” Peter smirked.

“Well now, Derek. I do believe that you have deluded yourself. She would kill you at the drop of a hat. She is only speaking with you because she wants something, and I’m sure that once she has it she will either abandon you like the lovestruck puppy that you are, or she will kill you before you can even wonder what went wrong.

“I also had Stiles cast a little spell that would let him monitor her emotions, and my boy. Oh, dear, sweet, _innocent_ Derek. That woman has a darker heart than Deucalion.” Derek flinched at the mention of the alpha and the painful memories of Paige that the name evoked. He then steeled his face and strode past his uncle toward the stairs.

“I’ll be fine, Peter. And you don’t control me.”

“Clearly. Just keep one thing in mind, Derek.” When the teenager did not move, Peter figured he would listen. “If anything happens to you, it will destroy Stiles. And I _promise_ you, with everything that I am and know, that Stiles will kill Kate. In fact, if anything happens to you, or him, or any of the rest of us, I will _encourage_ him to kill Kate, and likely the rest of the Argents while he’s at it. So think long and hard about not only your future, but theirs and that of your family as well.”

Peter then crushed a little clay figurine sitting on the desk next to him. A streak of blue lightning coursed around the house, signaling that something magical had just happened.

“Welcome home, Derek! I hope your school project went well.” Peter said amicably before moving past a stunned Derek and climbing the stairs to his room.

***

Stiles was moodily carving runes into the trees surrounding his house when Derek left with Laura the next day. It was Friday after school, and Derek had refused to talk to Stiles since the day before when he learned Stiles had cast a location spell on him and a different spell on Kate. He had grumpily accepted that Derek was angry about the lack of privacy, but he refused to care. Sure, Derek had every right to be angry, but Stiles had a right to his own actions as well.

He continued carving.

If Derek was going to treat their fears as groundless and do nothing to help guard against Kate, then the least Stiles would do is make sneaking up on their house impossible. The runes, once activated, would form a perimeter around their property that would set off a little bell in Stiles’ head whenever anything intelligent crossed the border. He had considered making it broader than that, but he did not want it chiming every time a squirrel or deer wanted to come onto their land. Not that that happened very often due to the aura a family of werewolves had to other animals, but it was not impossible.

He had just finished the last rune when Talia pulled into the driveway and went into the house with a little wave. Stiles closed his eyes and focused, activating all of the runes and feeling the ward link to his mind.

“Where’d Derek and Laura go?” He asked Talia as he went in the house, sitting down at the counter while she started getting dinner ready.

“They went to the store to buy some things. I expect them back before dinner’s ready.” Stiles’ ward chimed in his mind as she finished that sentence, causing a momentary freak out before he heard the slam of a car door. Andrew, Talia’s husband, walked in from the garage shortly after that, causing him to relax the rest of the way. _Well, at least it works._ He thought to himself, smiling a little bit at the success of his ward. 

Stiles lounged around the den for the next half hour sketching out what his next project might be. He scrapped a page and was just pulling out a new one when his ward chimed.

Four times. He sat up and then turned his jumped in surprise as soft explosions followed the sound of shattering glass around the outside of the house. “What the hell?” Andrew exclaimed, moving toward the front door.

“No, don’t! Dad!” Stiles yelled as he wrenched open the front door only to be met with an explosion and hurled through the air into the stairs along the opposite wall.

“Andrew!!” Talia cried, running to put out the flames that were sticking to him. Stiles threw the door shut with a thought and then reached along his bond to Kate. He felt dark glee and a twisted sense of rightness, causing his features to darken unpleasantly and rage to grow in the pit of his stomach. He ordered the worm to self-destruct, smiling as the last emotion he felt from Kate was terrified shock as she was fell to the ground, her mind completely cut off from her body.

Flames had started licking up the outer walls of the house, shining through the window. “Mom! Mom! What’s happening?” He heard Cora cry from her room. She screamed and ran out as her window was shattered and a gout of flames bathed her room. Stiles heard two more explosions against the front door and the back door, meaning whoever was out there meant to trap them via flames. Talia coughed three times as the smell of the flames reached into the house. Stiles coughed once and his eyes widened.

With a cry Stiles threw open the cellar door and commanded Talia to take Andrew down into the basement. He called out for Claire, Bryan and Peter as he helped Cora down the stairs. She screamed as the only window in the basement shattered and cut them off with a wash of flames all over the floor. Stiles reached out with his mind and scooped up the flames and hurled them back out the window, shuddering slightly as the effort tried to wear him down. He directed his mother into the furthest, darkest corner of the basement. Peter came rushing down the stairs with Claire hanging around his neck and clearly trying her hardest not to scream.

“Talia, where’s Bryan?!” Peter screamed, vying to be heard over the crackling racket the first floor and outside had become.

“I thought you were getting him!” She screamed, curling more tightly around the still-unconscious – Stiles refused to think that he was worse than unconscious – Andrew. He grabbed Peter and pushed him with strength no ten-year old should have into the corner. His eyes then erupted with a brilliant blue glow and a circle carved itself into the floor beneath them, runes and symbols appearing by magic.

“Stiles!” Peter screamed as the boy turned and ran back through the basement. He lunged after him but was repelled by a barrier at the edge of the circle. “No! Damn you!” He banged on the barrier with all of his werewolf strength to no avail. He heard a high-pitched wail coming from upstairs and thrashed against the wall with renewed vigor.

Stiles pounded up the steps and threw flames out of his way in his quest to get to Bryan. He heard the little boy’s high-pitched scream as another eruption sounded from upstairs. He skidded to a halt in front of Bryan’s room and was met with a raging wall of flames. Bryan was trapped on his bed while the rest of the room burned and blocked his exits. Stiles thanked every being that ever was that Bryan was not a werewolf, or he might have died from the wolfsbane vapors by now.

Gathering his will, Stiles grasped the flames with his mind and once again hurled them out the window, leaving a path to Bryan clear. He rushed forward and grabbed his brother in a tight hug, wincing when the floor behind him gave way and crashed to the ground below. He winced as he felt the house beneath him shudder, complaining about how heavy the top floors were while its support beams were burned to ashes.

He coughed for another few seconds as the smoke rose from below to inhibit his thought processes. Clenching his eyes shut, he recalled a last-ditch defense that he could use. He looked down at the boy in his arms and lifted his chin. “Hey, Bryan,” he said as he diverted his attention to the blankets beneath them. Their edges began to curl up and over them, causing Bryan’s eyes to widen. “We’re going to take a little nap, okay?” The little boy nodded with wide eyes as blue runes began to appear and glow on the inside of the blanket while it curled over and around them, cutting them off from the horrors of the fire.

***

“Mom? Mom! What happened?” Derek shouted when he saw his mother talking to firemen around the smoldering remains of his house. She had tears in her eyes as she shook her head no, or nodded yes to a question. He found Peter standing with Cora and Claire over by an ambulance, blankets wrapped around each of them and soot staining their faces. He ran over and missed the anger in Peter’s eyes until his fist met Derek’s face.

“Peter!” Laura cried out, running to comfort the two children who had screamed at the sudden violence from their uncle.

“Your little Argent bitch, Derek. That’s what happened! You tell her that we were all going to be home right then? Think she wanted to meet your family, Derek?”

“Wha-No! I never said anything! She never _asked_ anything!”

“Well she sure knew enough to target everyone who was supposed to be home at that time! Andrew’s dead, Stiles and Bryan are missing! It’s your fault, Derek!” Derek eyes widened and his heart felt a shock of pain at the news of what had happened.

“Dad?”

“He was hit by a grenade when he opened the door to get out. I hope you’re happy, Derek.” He turned and stalked back towards the younger kids, leaving Derek on the ground. Laura looked hurt and betrayed, but mostly hurt at the news of her father and younger brothers. Derek twisted on the ground to look back at his mother, her tears taking on new meaning.

Looking over the house, Derek could see that the section housing Bryan’s room was missing, a gaping hole where the boy used to sleep. Tears pricked his eyes and he had to silently chastise his thoughts for leading him places he didn’t want them to go. Stiles and Bryan were _missing_. That was better than if their remains had been found. _Like Dad._ He thought miserably.

Derek sniffed and a scent hit him that he had never expected to smell around the house. He growled and jumped to his feet, slinking past firemen and policemen toward the woods.  Just beyond the tree line, he had to force himself away from violence and consider rationality for just a few moment.

Kate lay unmoving on the forest floor, her eyes open and lifeless. He could hear her heart beat and saw her taking in breaths, but she was as still as the dead otherwise. She gave no sign that she knew he was there, or that she was even awake. He knew then that Peter had spoken true, and that Kate was the one responsible. There was a little glass bottle on the ground by her feet that looked like what he imagined a home-made grenade would look like. A duffel bag holding a shot gun, rifle, and several rounds of ammo rested at her feet as well.

Curiosity at her condition flickered through his mind, but then he dismissed it. It must have been something to do with Stiles. Which led his thoughts back down the trail of his loss, and his heart hurt. He desperately hoped that Stiles’ and Bryan’s absences were due to Stiles’ actions, and not those of other people.

By the time he could make himself go back to the clearing, the police were leaving and the firemen had given them the okay to pick through the wreckage. What had not already fallen was unlikely to any time soon. Derek sprinted into the house and began tearing it apart looking for any sign of Stiles and Bryan. He closed his eyes and focused his senses in the effort. He reached beyond the burnt, slightly acidic smell in the air, listened past his mother’s concerned calls for him and focused on any heart beat or sound that would not be at home in a burned out shell of a house.

After a few seconds of silent listening, he heard it. Two separate thumps, light enough to be the distinct heartbeats of two little boys. He opened his eyes and bounded toward the sound, nearly crashing into a wall in his haste. He did not hear the sound again for another full minute, casting his eyes and ears around for any sign of where they could be. He searched for another minute and then his eyes came to rest on a blackened ball, roughly the size of the toy Fischer-Price car Derek pretended to drive when he was little.

Nearly a full minute passed before he heard the heartbeats coming from the ball. He tore at it with his claws, ash and cloth falling away to reveal a wall of solid black rock beneath the cloth. He punched and clawed at it like his life depended upon its destruction, but it gave no sign that his blows were even phasing it. “Stiles!” He yelled, continuing to hammer away at the solid orb. “Bryan! Stiles!”

Talia found her oldest son pounding away at a perfect sphere of stone, earning her a cautious flare of hope. She heard the slow heartbeats within and nearly fainted in relief. Moving slowly toward Derek, she caught his fist. “It’s okay, Derek. We’ll take them to Deaton. He’ll know what to do.” He allowed her to pull him away from the orb, his hands healing from the damage he had dealt them. Tears streaked down his face and he collapsed, finally letting the full implications of what had happened hit him.

***

“I…I am very impressed.” Dr. Deaton said, eyebrows high on his face and eyes incredulous. “This is a very powerful stasis cocoon. It’s a spell that not many people with a choice use, because it is impossible to open, except from the outside.”

“But you can do it, right?” Derek asked hopefully. He nearly fell over again when the doctor nodded.

“I can. It will take some time; Stiles is much more powerful than I am. But I will break the spell. It was a good choice considering the house was falling apart around them. As Derek found out, the cocoon is completely indestructible. Even a nuclear blast would neither phase nor penetrate it. I will get to work.”

Derek watched Deaton the entire time, his breath catching as he sat for nearly two hours. Finally, Deaton tapped the ball with a strange rod that looked to be made of crystal and cracks of light spiraled out from the rod onto the surface of the orb. The stone began to fall away, revealing Stiles wrapped around Bryan, neither of them conscious.

As soon as the light faded, Stiles’ eyes cracked open and he looked around cautiously. Seeing that they were not in a flaming building, he allowed himself to fall back and rest on the concrete floor. Derek rushed forward and gathered them both up in his arms. Tears burst from his eyes once again at finally having his little brothers back.

“I thought you were gone. I thought you’d been taken, or crushed by the flames, or…or…” He ran out of words to cry into Stiles’ shoulder. Stiles just nodded and hugged him back. “Stiles…Dad is..Dad…”

“I know, Der. I saw it happen. I couldn’t stop it, Der. I couldn’t do anything.” Derek pulled back to look at his little brother, taking in the red eyes that overflowed with pain and guilt.

“It’s not your fault, Stiles.” He said, pushing steel into his voice as hard as he could. If nothing else, Stiles had to believe that. “You saved, literally, everyone else. Dad was the only one they got. Everyone else is _fine_ , because of you!” Stiles nodded and leaned back in to rest his head on Derek’s shoulder.

“He’s the second dad I’ve lost, Der.” And just like that, his heart broke for the little boy all over again. The pain he felt on Stiles’ behalf those years ago when they first met all came rushing back and piled on top of his own pain in a flood. He released a few more tears and pulled his brother tighter against his chest.

“I know, Stiles.” There was nothing else he could say. He could not promise that it would never happen again. They were werewolves; loss was a promise. “I know it hurts. But we have to look on the brighter side. We still have Mom, and Peter, and Laura, and Cora, and Claire, and Bryan, and you. We’re still here. We’ll all get through it, together.” Stiles nodded and let a few more tears fall.

He wanted his mom.


	8. And You Were There...And You!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the final chapter/epilogue.

Stiles lurched up in his bed with a scream. His feet found their way under him and he threw himself out of his bed, ignoring the sheets drenched with sweat. “Derek! Derek!” He screamed, uncaring if he woke the whole house. He threw open Derek’s door right as Derek was barreling out of it, his eyes wild and confused. He tackled the man in a tight hug, sobs of relief and terror bursting from his throat.

“Stiles? Stiles, what’s wrong? What happened?” Stiles shuddered and Derek winced as arms squeezed him tight enough to make his ribs creak. He always forgot that Stiles was not a little kid anymore.

“I…Peter killed them, and…a spell…Derek…you died and…” He shuddered once more and forced himself to take several gasping breaths. The dream still raged through his head, so real and detailed that he was only now remembering that it was a dream. Memory slowly filtered back into his head as he calmed down, each tear reminding him that he was in their house, that Derek was not dead.

But everything had seemed so real…

“Stiles? Peter is in his bed. He hasn’t killed anyone, recently. And I’m right here.” He slowly began to stroke his little brother’s back, glad that at least he was no longer gasping out sobs like he was in agony.

“I’m actually right here, nephew. What happened?” Peter asked sharply, a glint in his eye that said that someone had better be dying; no other reason was good enough to wake him from sleep. Olivia was coming out of their room, rubbing sleep from her eyes with a much more softly concerned expression.

“Stiles?”

Everyone remained silent as Stiles quietly gathered himself, filtering reality from the dream that had taken him so fully that he felt he had lived an entirely different life. He gently pushed away from Derek, wiping his eyes and shaking out his arms. He pulled himself inward and focused, reaching outward with his magic to pull a black leather book from his closet. He felt the magic take hold of it and pull it through space to appear in his outstretched hand.

“I had a dream. Or a vision. Or a something.” He said, leading them all downstairs as they followed him to find out why he had run screaming from his room and now looked like there was a new enemy attacking them. Scott met them halfway up the stairs, having heard the commotion from his room in the basement and coming to make sure everyone was alright. He jumped backwards out of Stiles’ way and then dropped onto a chair in the living room. Everyone else settled in as well as Stiles opened his book and a pen appeared above his hand. He uttered a short spell and set both objects down, the pen lifting itself in a position to write.

“So the dream started years ago, way back on that first night I met Derek. It was…right after my mom died.”

Stiles recounted the dream in as much detail as he could. He recounted an entire life lived, decisions made and situations that could never have even happened in reality. His father had been alive until the very end. Talia and his entire pack, who he had never gone to live with, had died without him ever really even knowing they had existed. Derek had finished being a teenager with just Laura and then Peter, having spent years in a coma, killed her for her alpha powers. There had been a weird lizard creature called a Kanima, Kate had come back to torture Derek more, Deucalion had tried to recruit Scott and forced Derek to kill his betas, and he had been really good friends with Allison Argent.

And everyone had died. The dream ended when he cast the only spell he had ever learned to send himself back in time. To create the reality that Stiles had been living for the past ten years.

“I must say, Stiles. You have a very impressive memory for your dreams.” Peter said callously, standing up and taking Olivia’s hand. “That was a very good story, despite the fact that I was the villain and every one of us was dead in the end. However, I would very much like to return to sleep.” He then led Olivia away from them and back up the stairs. His aunt ruffled his hair lovingly as she passed.

“It was just a dream, Stiles.” Scott said softly, moving from his chair to sit right next to Stiles. He wrapped an arm around his waist and rested his chin on Stiles’ shoulder. “It wasn’t real.”

“It could have been though, Scott. It so, so easily could have been. Right at the very beginning, Derek…Derek didn’t come and help with my mom. He walked past the room, unaware of what was even happening because the alarms didn’t start going off until he was turning the corner. It was that simple.”

“Maybe.” Scott allowed. “But that’s okay, because that’s not what happened.” Derek nodded then and ran gentle fingers through his little brother’s hair. Stiles relaxed into it and released a puff of air. The pen had been madly scribbling down everything Stiles said, copying down the dream with as much detail as Stiles could remember.

“Yeah. That’s not what happened. All that pain though. All that loss. Why would I have such an awful, intense dream? I remember every detail, you guys. Every cut, every loss. I felt everything like it was really happening!”

“Well, ask Deaton about that spell in the morning. Maybe…” Derek paused, gathering his words. “Maybe what you just dreamt used to be reality, and then you really did come back in time to change it.” Stiles nodded and released a small chuckle as he settled back into their arms.

“Gosh, time travel. What a mess that would be!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, I hope you all enjoyed it!  
> There is no sequel planned; and I probably would never get around to finishing it if there were. i'm bad at finishing things. :p


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